#DINK Life

[mandsleanan]

That’s because people who meet that description, known as childfree people, don’t need to build generational wealth, says Jay Zigmont, a certified financial planner and author of “Portraits of Childfree Wealth.” That renders much of the standard advice you hear from financial experts like Dave Ramsey moot.

Text under cut.

If you don’t have children — and don’t plan on having any — the normal rules of personal finance don’t necessarily apply to you.

That’s because people who meet that description, known as childfree people, don’t need to build generational wealth, says Jay Zigmont, a certified financial planner and author of “Portraits of Childfree Wealth.” That renders much of the standard advice you hear from financial experts like Dave Ramsey moot.

“If my nephews get $1,000 or $10,000 [when I die] that’s fine. If they get $1 million, I made a mistake,” Zigmont said during a recent appearance at FinCon. “Because either they could have used it earlier in life, or I could have used it.”

Under the traditional models of financial planning, you’re told to keep “running it up” in order to pass along your wealth to your children, Zigmont says. Without that variable in play, childfree people are free to spend or donate every dime they make before they die in order to maximize their happiness.

“That breaks all the financial planning,” Zigmont said.

In a nod to Ramsey’s seven “baby steps” for money management, Zigmont suggest eight “no baby” steps (get it?) as a financial roadmap for childfree people.

1 - 3: Build a financial foundation

The first three steps, Zigmont says, are what he’d prescribe whether you had a child or not. He recommends starting with the following:

Create a starter emergency fund

Get out of debt

Build a 3- to 6-month emergency fund

For a starter emergency fund, Zigmont recommends socking away enough cash to cover about a month’s worth of expenses, which gives you a cushion as you move on to step two: getting yourself out of debt.

“When you’re deep in debt, you’ve deferred maintenance on you, your car, your house, everything,” Zigmont says. When those expenses continue to crop up, you’d rather pay out of your emergency fund than fall deeper into debt.

Once you have a savings cushion, treat your debt as priority No. 1, especially if it’s high-interest debt, such as the balance on a credit card.

“Your debt is an emergency, especially with credit card rates now over 20%,” Zigmont says.

Although Zigmont sees the mathematical wisdom in paying off debt via the so-called avalanche method — focusing on the highest-rate debt first — he generally favors the psychological wins afforded by paying off debts in order of the smallest balances, a strategy known as the snowball method.

“Getting into debt can be quick. Getting out is a slog. So having those quick wins keeps you moving.”

4. Save and invest toward your goals

This is where Zigmont says his advice “takes a hard right turn” from traditional advice. Even though people with children are also saving and investing, childfree people may have very different landmarks. After all, there’s no child care to pay for, no college to save for, no inheritance to leave.

“How can I spend some money, enjoy my life, but also save for the future?” Zigmont says. “It comes down to, what do you want your goals to be?”

Under a traditional model, you might stash away, say, 20% of your income, divvying the savings between the down payment on a house and investments for your retirement, which you hope begins around age 67.

For childfree people, the script can look radically different. A house is “a choice for childfree people, not a requirement,” says Zigmont — especially if you want the flexibility to move around.

What’s more, while you may want to invest for the long-term, you can divert some of the money to improve your life in the near future.

“If your goal is to open a business, maybe you want to invest in that business, where the better answer financially might be to invest in the stock market,” Zigmont says. “Maybe it’s investing in going back to school or changing careers or taking a sabbatical. Those are all investments. They’re just not ‘classic’ investments.”

5. Get your insurance right

Being childfree makes having some types of insurance more important than others. If you have children, for example, many financial pros recommend some form of term life insurance to cover your family in the event of your death.

Unless you have major financial obligations your spouse couldn’t bear if you died, “it’s very rare that childfree people will need life insurance,” says Zigmont. “Disability insurance is much bigger.”

This is especially true for people Zigmont calls “soloists” — childfree people who also don’t have a spouse.

“You need to have good disability insurance that’s going to cover you until you retire,” Zigmont says. “Many people skip it or don’t realize that their employer’s coverage won’t be enough.” In fact, less than half of private industry workers have access to short-term and long-term disability coverage, which kicks in if injury or illness prevents you from working.

Another major consideration: long-term care insurance.

End-of-life care is expensive. The median monthly cost for a private room in a nursing home, for instance, is more than $9,000 a month, according to a 2021 survey from insurance provider Genworth Financial.

“Childfree people often get asked who will take care of us. The answer is my money, with the help of professionals,” says Zigmont. ”[Considering long-term care insurance] something I want people to be doing by about their mid-forties. And the reason for that is that’s when long-term care insurance is the most reasonable. It’s not cheap. But it’s more reasonable.”

6. Be proactive about estate planning

Financial advisors will tell you that just about everyone needs an estate plan, which directs the people in your life how you want financial and medical decisions handled in the case of your death or incapacitation.

It’s an even more pressing issue for childfree people who may not have an obvious next-of-kin, says Zigmont.

“Health care and government systems all look for next-of-kin,” he says. If you get in an accident when you’re out of town, for example, there may be no one obvious to contact, he adds. “That means the government or health-care system will be making decisions for you.”

Without an estate plan in place, you undergo procedures that you wouldn’t have chosen for yourself, or your assets could be distributed according to government rules rather than your wishes.

“It’s so important that we’re designating decision-makers for us financially and medically so that our needs and wishes are fulfilled,” Zigmont says.

7. Plan for Mom and Dad

You’ve likely heard of the “sandwich generation” of people who are caring for both their children and their aging parents. But for many families, it’s more of an open-faced sandwich.

“It’s often, ‘Hey, you don’t have kids, so you can take care of Mom, right?’” says Zigmont. “There’s a different level of expectation.”

That may or may not be a role you’re comfortable taking. Your first step, says Zigmont, is to establish your boundaries. You and your spouse, for instance, may be happy to chip in more than your siblings financially, but unwilling to let a parent live in your home.

You’ll also need to communicate what your monetary role in your parents’ care is going to be. “You might decide, ‘Hey, I can’t afford this.’ You need to have that conversation.”

If, for instance, you and your siblings can’t afford long-term care for an aging parent, they may have to opt for a nursing facility provided by Medicaid. That awkward conversation should ideally happen as early as possible. “You need to do that before they’re sick,” Zigmont says.

8. Die with zero

Zigmont’s ‘die with zero’ mantra is a nod to the book of the same name by Bill Perkins. But both men would acknowledge that aiming to actually die with $0 in your bank account is a risky proposition. You don’t want to underestimate your life expectancy and run out of money.

That’s why Zigmont recommends buying a long-term care policy and setting yourself up with an ample cash cushion.

“Then it’s a matter of optimizing your life and getting the most out of your money while you’re living,” he says.

That will look different for everyone, but generally, “we can do two different things,” says Zigmont. “We can either save less or draw it down more.”

One example of the former is taking a lower-paying job, which could come with less stress and more time to focus on your passions. “Sure, you’re not gonna save as much, but you’re gonna be happier, right?”

Zigmont also meets clients who have banked a prodigious amount of money, and in a departure from many financial planners, he encourages them to spend more of it well before retirement age.

“Their minds are blown because they’ve spent years learning how to save. There’s a lot of guilt there. There’s a lot of baggage that comes with it,” he says.

To be clear, Zigmont is not saying that childfree people are free to embark on a spree of reckless spending. Rather, they can put a sharper focus on how their money can maximize their happiness.

“I’d be very careful with a YOLO approach. It’s a balance between, you’ve got enough money to keep yourself safe. But you’re also enjoying your life at the same time at a much earlier age.”

[scarlikebite]

Okay, I just need some place to vent my frustrations:

I just want to read a book or watch a show where a happily married couple has no babies and they don’t plan on having any. Nor do they really want them!! Or a single person isn’t desperately seeking out love to form a family and can just be happy with their life as it is!!

I want them to be the very best auntie and uncles possible!! They can love kids but they just have no desire to be parents themselves.

Give me the new single mother and her bestie shopping for groceries and when some weird ass dude comments about how good the mother looks the bestie holds her hand and is all, “I know, right! My babe is amazing!”

I want that uncle that no matter what he never misses a single sport event, recitals, or show!! He is beyond supportive and is always willing to drive to practice if parents aren’t able.

Lemme see a couple getting a call from their niece at 1AM because they’re underage and drunk at a party and need a ride and they’re too worried too call their parents so in the car the couple goes!!! Pick up the kiddo and take them home giving them a safe place to sleep it off and of course let the parents know their little one is safe.

People can live full lives without having their own kids. And just because they don’t want to be parents doesn’t mean they don’t love the children in their lives. I’d love to see more of these dynamics portrayed in modern media and if people have recs of where I can find some, please let me know!!

[legolasvegas]

I paid off my house!!! No more mortgage!!!

[koiinoborii]

Thinking abt Dink again

[warpfactor9]

their guncle energy was absolutely out of control in the finale

[green-green-grass]

THUNDER FORCE 5: THE OMEGA CONTINUUM

The insidious GLUMLOCK CONTINGENT has taken control of an object of unimaginable power: the OMEGA CONTINUUM. Our heroes are in hot pursuit when a black hole combines with a CRYON CLOUD to transport our heroes to EARTH, 2025.

Join Tallis Jan, Dink Blastar, Snarky Bobo, Jack Sensation, Big Hork, and actor Jonathan Frakes on a rip-roaring temporal adventure as they stand against enemy forces... including the enemy WITHIN?

Pre-order tickets for a chance to win your VERY OWN Big Hork plushie. In theaters never.

[wishingstarinajar]

Being a security officer on the Lost Light with its pretty crazy crew can be very exhausting and frustrating at times! Starflare would know. Oh, he knows.

Buy him a drink, Pummel, or even two drinks! Just help the poor mech out.

Pummel is @stankychee's boy~

[millidew]

little baby wisteria

[cryoverkiltmilk]

#DINK Life #Childfree

#With the subreddit unavailable we're going to see a lot of activity on the Tumblr tag #Get ready for a massive TERF invasion #Since they need to stay quiet about their bigotry on the subreddit #Or else they get the Banhammer

Sharing these tags as a public service announcement. Get your block button ready folks.

To any new childfree tumblrites, change your icon, make your likes visible, and make sure to reblog. Upvotes/Likes mean nothing for the visibility of a post.

[mandsleanan]

“The past few decades have shown that societal norms don’t look the same as they used to, and millennial women played a major role in that shift,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma. 

“As a result, women today aren’t tethered to the timelines set by those before them, as many choose to prioritize their careers above being young mothers. In some cases, that means prolonging family planning until they become more established in their careers, while others don’t see children in their future at all. Regardless, both camps are highly influenced by money and the high costs associated with conceiving and raising children.”

(Text under cut.)

America’s vision of success is changing. Once upon a time, U.S. adults may have aspired to have a nuclear family, their name on a property, and maybe even a white picket fence.

Not anymore—at least, not for a growing number of millennial and Gen Z women who are prioritizing their careers and finances over having children.

New research from personal-finance experts Intuit Credit Karma found 45% of millennial women are not following the “traditional” societal timelines of getting married, buying a home, and having kids.

A further 41% of Gen Z women—those born from 1997 onwards—say they won’t follow this path, with 32% noting their goal is to have no children at all.

Instead, they want to be “DINKs”—having dual income with a partner but no children.

It’s part of a growing trend in the U.S. In 2022 there were 38.1 million married, childless households—an increase of 140% compared with 1960.

DINK couples Fortune spoke to previously said their choice was prompted by a range of reasons: pursuing passions, financial freedom, or a focus on their careers.

These factors were all the more pronounced in Credit Karma’s report. It found a quarter of American women are delaying having children in order to focus on their careers, a figure that correlates to the number of women who earn more than their partners.

While jobs and careers form one major reason why women aren’t having children right now, another is financial situation and savings.

For the 35% of millennial women who told Credit Karma they didn’t want children, money was often a significant factor: 40% of that group said they couldn’t afford children, compared with 35% of Gen Zers planning to be DINKs.

On top of that, getting a plan in place to potentially have children in the future comes with a hefty price tag. Nearly one-third of the millennial women surveyed said that the eye-watering sums which come with fertility treatment, egg freezing, adoption, and surrogacy are what has kept them from family planning.

“The past few decades have shown that societal norms don’t look the same as they used to, and millennial women played a major role in that shift,” said Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Intuit Credit Karma. 

“As a result, women today aren’t tethered to the timelines set by those before them, as many choose to prioritize their careers above being young mothers. In some cases, that means prolonging family planning until they become more established in their careers, while others don’t see children in their future at all. Regardless, both camps are highly influenced by money and the high costs associated with conceiving and raising children.”

Economic power players

The importance of millennial women in the economy is only going to get more pronounced in the coming years, according to Ned Davis Research (NDR).

Last month, a study titled The Rising Influence of Millennial Women found prime-age female job participation rate hit record highs in a handful of developed economies in 2023.

Among the nations where women are now having an outsize impact on the economy are the U.S., Australia, Japan, Italy, South Korea, and Germany.

This increased participation comes with higher levels of education, NDR chief economist Alejandra Grindal and senior analyst Patrick Ayers found, with women therefore more likely to be employed in productive roles.

Grindal explained the correlation between education, employment, and productivity, writing: “The unemployment rate tends to be lower among people with higher education, which helps explain the greater take-up of women in the workforce. People with greater education are also more likely to have full-time jobs and to be employed productively.”

[leaderofallgays]

I made a pearl charm with shrinky dinks! :D

[sqrkyclean]

potion.....

[ninjastar107]

Another one. I mentioned it on one of my previous posts, but I have the headcannon that the Tree of Life works more than just supplying berries and producing a sort of balance. It's the place pac-people go to get their kids! They do a wish for it and then in awhile they get a letter that tells them to show up and pick up their kid. The look of the kid reflects the parents in most cases, lest there's some damage on the flower, or something else goes awry.

I think the look of pacworlders sometimes reflect the tree they came from as well. Power berries back in the day were more in-lined with the type of tree, so for example a tree located in a tropical area gave more chameleon berries than a tree located in a tundra. Pac worlders from a tree in a hot area have a higher chance of being born with an innate elemental power of fire, stuff like that.

It probably still happens in the modern age, but a lot less. The Tree of Life in Pacopolis is from a seed that was cross pollinated by a bunch of different trees, and so its berry production is also pretty mixed.

[this-blog-needs-a-new-name]

The transition though 🤌🏼 So cool for such a small production series! You can’t tell me you weren’t holding in your breath - that same breath you didn’t realize you were holding in cuz I sure was!

[shantechni]

eye twitches

A REACTION VIDEO?! MA’AM!!!

LISTEN LISTEN LISTEN—

Spilling the Milk was just more convenient than finding the actual movie in full at the time😭

[radarsteddybear]

Is it perfect? No. Do I need to stop fiddling with it before I ruin it again? Yes.

Tomorrow’s task will be to glue the pieces together…though I should probably seal the background piece first, so maybe I’ll seal it tomorrow and glue it all together on Saturday.